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Dungeon Bowl

So has anyone else picked Dungeon Bowl up yet? It's multiplayer only - presumably after the AI would be even more confused in a dungeon than it is on an open pitch - so I'd be up for a game at some point.

Catch me on Steam or post here if you are interested. If it's any good maybe I'll set up a Challenge league like I did for Blood Bowl...

They seriously should have picked other teams to start. Having said that, the last edition of the DB rules contradicts BB's competition rules in how it deploys big guys, so some teams will need adjusting.

For example, the Jade team is supposedly orcs/goblins/trolls... so do they get 5 trolls now? :D

They seriously should have picked other teams to start. Having said that, the last edition of the DB rules contradicts BB's competition rules in how it deploys big guys, so some teams will need adjusting.

For example, the Jade team is supposedly orcs/goblins/trolls... so do they get 5 trolls now? :D

They've adjusted it so that you can have a max of 2 players with loner on your roster, so at most 2 trolls. Of course, halfling treemen don't have loner.

Also there's only one drive in Dungeon Bowl, so the deathroller looks pretty good.

My thoughts so far from having played a single "Hot Seat" game against myself (I didn't bother reading the Dungeon Bowl rules first):

Very similar to bloodbowl, but having it not on a pitch makes an interesting change - not sure if thats just novelty.

I can see that there will be interesting risk/reward decisions on whether to use the teleporting (which seems to go to a random other portal and sometimes the player is removed from play).

There is more danger from the dungeon than from other players! Chests explode if they don't have the ball, teleports can remove the player and if an action is carried out in a precarious position you have to pass a 2+ roll.

Only having 6 players on the board, the randomness of where the ball is and there only being one drive to me limits the game tactically when compared to BB vanilla. However, having choke points and alternative routes/teleporting could counteract this.

The most difficult tactical decision I came up against was - do you spread your team out to get to as many chests as possible or move around in force? I can see the mostly dwarf team camping out protecting their end-zone and letting the other team break itself against the scenery before going and nicking the ball off them, but I don't know if that is actually a viable strategy yet.

In summary - it seems like quite good fun but not as tactically deep as BB. I'll play it for a change but I doubt it will usurp BB's place as a major gaming time sink.

I will probably buy a copy this week. Hoping they introduce the Jade, Amber (dark elf/orc/skaven) or Amethyst (skaven/goblin/minotaurs) teams sooner rather than later though.

Amber sounds like a fantastic combo on paper, dark elves with extra bash and extra speed. Also the super-elfy Celestial team would be fun to see.

EDIT: I'd forgotten about the six-player starting set-up. Interesting. More players should be teleporting in throughout the match though, is that not the case?

Suddenly reminded me of a format on FumBBL called BB7, which is 7-a-side with halved positional allocations (and mostly no big guys). Although all that randomness in Dungeonbowl definitely takes it in the opposite direction to BB7 tactically.

As I said I didn't read the rulebook/instruction manual first so it may be that I just didn't take the opportunity to teleport people in when I could. It would explain why you need teams of up to 16 or whatever though (I was wondering)!

Okay so I bought it *ahem* Not had a chance to play against another human yet, but...

Things I liked immediately:

The UI which has clearly been reskinned from Blood Bowl feels a bit more responsive.

You can spectate games as they're happening, or watch any game's replay you like!

The dungeon layouts include a lot of obstacles that weren't part oft he old Dungeonbowl ruleset. Of particular note are water (or lava) hazards, which impede movement but not passing (or, presumably, leaping) which should make for some interesting play!

The dungeon editor is really excellent. The single tileset available in the game still comes with many floor and wall options, and there are coloured lighting and fog effects you can play with. Truly you can create some unique looking arenas. Also the DB rules are very lenient here - you need only 2 end zones, 1 chest and 1 teleporter to have a legit arena, so you can make it less or more random as you like. I could waste a lot of time here.

You can even test the dungeon levels by playing a game against yourself! Is this feature in regular BB? Because it's awesome.

Things I disliked:

Team selection, obviously.

Cyanide not explaining things particularly well in-game, as usual. Took me a while to find out how to teleport new players into the arena.

The default arenas are all rather small and cruelly designed. At least you don't ever have to use them if you don't want to.

There does not appear to be an option to set up your own league... for now at least, we're all in the main one together.

Weirdly, I couldn't see how to rename players. I might just be dumb.

So worth the money? Hard to say. The dungeon editor is a real highlight and versatile enough for you to create your whole league around specific crazy (or competitive) ideas..... except the lack of private leagues means that you'll have to do so through spreadsheets and gentlemen's agreements. The amount of dwarf in the team choice right now makes the wood elf/halfling/human Rainbow team look a poor prospect, so team choice could have been better.

I love building levels so the dungeon editor was well worth the £10 punt for me, but otherwise I can see how many would want to wait and see what future developments (and microtransactions) are in store for the game.

If you want a game:
I made my in-game name the same as my Blood Bowl one, Screwberry Jam.

Sure thing, I might be free Thursday (but might be going to the cinema) and will definitely be around at the weekend. Nudge me if you see me on Steam and I'll let you know closer to the time on the cinema thing.